Winthrop Laboratories

Winthrop Laboratories was the name of the pharmaceutical company that originally created the anabolic steroid commercially known as Winstrol or Winstrol Depot, but chemically referred to as Stanozolol. Winthrop Laboratories was a subsidiary of the much larger pharmaceutical company called Sterling Drug. In later years, the global company was known by the name Sterling-Winthrop, although it has changed hands many times during its long history and ownership has followed a rather convoluted path through the years. Undoubtedly, though, Winthrop Laboratories' most famous product was Winstrol, which is used to this day by bodybuilders and others who want to bulk up and increase their strength.

Winstrol and Winstrol Depot - the oral and injected forms of the drug Stanozolol, respectively - were first created back in the year 1962. This drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use; however, it may only be used with a legal prescription from a physician. As such, it is classified as being a controlled substance, and may not be used by people who do not have a valid prescription for it. When it was originally created by Winthrop Laboratories, though, it was not considered a controlled substance and quickly gained incredible popularity in the world of anabolic steroids.

The roots behind the Winthrop Laboratories company can be traced back to Sterling Drug's founding back in the year 1901. At that time, it was originally known by the name Neuralgyline Co and was headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. Its original founders were two men by the names of Albert H. Diebold and William E. Weiss - the latter being a pharmacist who used his medical background to help the company get on its feet in producing various types of drugs for the general public.

Sterling Drug had a lot of ties to the Bayer Company throughout its early years; in fact, half of the holdings of its Winthrop company were given to the German Bayer company in the year 1922. The various transactions and changing hands responsible for running Winthrop Laboratories and Sterling Drug are a puzzling maze of different owners and names; it is important to keep in mind that this was during the years when major pharmaceutical manufacturing was exploding in terms of production, and a lot of money stood to be made.

In more recent years, Sterling Drug was acquired by the Eastman Kodak company in 1988. Not too long after that occurred - during the year 1993 - Eastman Kodak partnered up with the French pharmaceutical company known as Elf Sanofi. Within a couple of years, Sanofi acquired the prescription drug operations of Sterling Winthrop. As demonstrated, many different buyouts and partnerships occurred during the history of Winthrop Laboratories, and unraveling who owned the company or had interest in it throughout the years is no easy task.

Besides its long, rather confusing history, Winthrop Laboratories will forever be largely known for its creation of Winstrol and Winstrol Depot. There is no doubt that Stanozolol has had a major impact on the world of athletics and bodybuilding; it has been in the news often enough, due to athletes illegally using it as a performance enhancer. For most, Winthrop Laboratories will remain synonymous with popular anabolic steroids.